Cornell researchers study bacterium big enough to see -- the Shaquille O'Neal of bacteria

The secret to an unusual bacterium's massive size -- it's the size of a grain of salt, or a million times bigger than E. coli bacteria, and big enough to see with the naked eye -- may be found in its ability to copy its genome tens of thousands of times.

That's according to Cornell research published in a recent issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Whole article on news.cornell.edu